The Office of the United States Trade Representative

Statement by USTR Spokesman Stephen Norton Regarding CIT Lumber Ruling
07/21/2006


"Today, the United States Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that U.S. law does not permit implementation of a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) decision that was taken to comply with the United States' WTO obligations and that reaffirms an original threat-of-injury determination in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations regarding imports of softwood lumber from Canada.

The ruling, if it is not reversed on appeal, will essentially bar the United States from collecting additional antidumping and countervailing duties on softwood lumber but leaves open to additional review what will happen to several billion dollars in duties the United States collected since 2002. That issue will be subject to further proceedings before the CIT in which we intend to defend vigorously the U.S. position that these remedies cannot reach all of the duties collected to date.

The Administration strongly disagrees with the court's ruling concerning implementation of the ITC determination, which disrupts the statutory mechanism for complying with WTO recommendations and rulings. The United States is reviewing the almost 70 page opinion and is considering next steps, including an appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Today's decision relates to only one of over thirty separate strands of litigation surrounding this dispute. The United States maintains the view that litigation will not resolve this matter, and that the only durable solution is to implement fully the settlement agreement initialed with Canada on July 1."